The Models

DARTZ Black Shark: 1,500 bhp, B7 Armour and a Rotating Grille

By DARTZ Editorial · 2 October 2026

The DARTZ Prombron’ Black Shark was revealed in October 2014 on the Mercedes-AMG GL 63, with a biturbo V8 or V12 and up to 1,500 bhp. Its Kevlar and titanium body was armoured up to B7, with a rotating bulletproof grille that could carry the owner's monogram. Ten were planned, five for China. It was the first of DARTZ's helicopter series, and its face later appeared on the HVY Nightshark of GTA Online.

Before the Black Alligator and the Black Stallion, there was the Black Shark. It gave DARTZ its helicopter series, and it gave a video game its face.

At a glance


Revealed	October 2014
Edition	Spy.Grey 2K15
Base	Mercedes-AMG GL 63
Engines	Biturbo V8, or biturbo V12
Power	Up to 1,500 bhp (1,118 kW)
Body	Kevlar and titanium, armour up to B7
Planned	Ten cars, five of them for China

Kevlar, titanium and a rotating grille

New Atlas reported the Black Shark on 21 October 2014. It sat on the Mercedes-AMG GL 63 with a choice of biturbo V8 or biturbo V12, and the tuned V12 made 1,500 bhp. The body was Kevlar and titanium, armoured up to B7, with an optional sniper-proof roof. The bulletproof grille rotated and could carry the owner’s monogram.

Security went beyond armour: a signal jammer, explosives detection and a fingerprint and retina scanner.

The DARTZ Prombron’ Black Shark at night

Inside

The cabin was a lounge: a champagne holder with sterling-silver flutes, a cigar humidor, a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox One, Bang & Olufsen sound and two Vertu phones with every car. The leathers ran from alligator, crocodile and ostrich to python, sharkskin and stingray. “Yes, we are using bizarre leathers,” DARTZ said. “Deal with it.”

The twin-turbo engine of the Black Shark under a carbon cover with the DARTZ skull crest

Not an SUV

The Black Shark was also where Leonard F. Yankelovich explained why DARTZ avoids the word SUV. For his clients, he told New Atlas, the term degrades the car to a category of farmer’s trucks and grocery-shopping vehicles. Read what a BOND is.

The DARTZ Prombron’ Black Shark in a studio

The first helicopter

The Black Shark began what DARTZ calls its helicopter series of names, in honour of Igor Sikorsky. The Black Alligator followed as its shorter sibling, and in 2017 DARTZ told Top Gear that a longer Black Shark, 5.9 m long, would be built in only five cars. The Black Stallion came next.

The DARTZ Prombron’ Black Shark head-on in a derelict industrial yard under a storm sky

A face in Los Santos

In 2017 the HVY Nightshark arrived in GTA Online. Its face, DARTZ says, came from the Black Shark. In 2026 a client closed the circle, and DARTZ built the real thing: the DARTZ Nightshark VI.

About DARTZ

DARTZ is a Riga carrosserie that builds bespoke, opulent vehicles, armoured or non-armoured, in strictly limited numbers. It calls them BONDs: Bespoke Opulent Noble Drives.

Its heritage runs back to the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory (RBVZ), founded in Riga in 1869, whose automobile department built its first car in 1909. Leonard F. Yankelovich revived that heritage as DARTZ in 1988. The group, DARTZ Grupa OÜ, is registered in Tallinn, Estonia.

Its Prombron’ models, from the Iron Diamond and Black Dragon to the Black Shark, Black Alligator and Black Stallion, have been covered by Top Gear, Forbes, Robb Report and Fox News, among many others.

Questions we are asked

When was the DARTZ Black Shark revealed?

In October 2014, as New Atlas reported on 21 October that year. DARTZ lists its Spy.Grey edition as 2K15.

How powerful is the Black Shark?

Up to 1,500 bhp (1,118 kW) with the tuned biturbo V12, as New Atlas reported.

How well armoured is the Black Shark?

New Atlas reported armour up to B7, with a Kevlar and titanium body and an optional sniper-proof roof.

Is the GTA Nightshark based on the Black Shark?

The GTA Online HVY Nightshark took its face from the Black Shark, as DARTZ sets out, along with details of other DARTZ models. In 2026 DARTZ built a real one, the Nightshark VI.